Animal kennels and fencing systems for enclosing animals within a defined space are known in the art. The earliest attempts to confine animals to a defined or enclosed space go back in time to man's earliest efforts to construct corrals and similar fenced enclosures for the control of livestock, such as, for example, cows and horses. As man began to transition from a largely agrarian or rural society to a more urban society, dogs and other working animals traveled from the farms to the cities too. However, the problem soon arose that dogs could not be allowed to wander the streets of the cities and suburbs for public safety and health reasons. Moreover, dogs left to wander the streets on their own would often times get into territorial disputes, leading to dog fights which can iniure both man and animal.
Accordingly, the need for kennel systems to restrain dogs and other domestic animals arose. In response to this need, a number of prior art kennel systems came about.
A typical prior art kennel system uses a series of fence panel subframe assemblies which can be formed into an enclosure about a defined space for confining an animal. However, each fence panel is constructed separately, and has its own pair of opposed support posts and a pair of generally horizontal rails extending between the posts forming the rigid frame upon which chain length fencing or other fence means are secured to enclose the sides of the space formed by the subpanels. This results in an enclosure having at least two support posts at every point where the subpanels join one another. The support posts in these prior art kennels are held together by clamps or bands, with the result that if the panels of these prior art kennels are moved relative to each other so that rather than forming a generally square or rectangular shape, the kennel takes a parallelogram or diamond shape, the kennel becomes suspectable to collapse if pushed on or leaned against by an animal on the inside or outside of the kennel. In addition, a panel subframe kennel in a square shape, for example, would have eight support posts rather than only the four needed to enclose the space in which the animal is confined. This duplication of parts used to construct the kennel results in both increased weight and cost of the kennel.
The fence panels of prior an kennels using a plurality of fence panels to form a kennel can be constructed of either one elongated tube which is bent at three corners and welded at the fourth corner to construct a generally rectangular or square fence panel. The result of this type of constntction, however, is that once the fence panel has been assembled at its place of manufacture, it must be transported in the stream of commerce, and to the ultimate user's location, as a completed subpanel, which can be quite large and difficult to handle. This creates problems not only with handling the fence panel, but also with the shipment of the fence panel to, and storage of the fence panel at, the point of sale from which the fence panels are purchased.
Another type of prior art fence panel assembly uses two separate support posts at its ends, as well as a top and a bottom rail. In this type of panel the rail is connected by conventional chain link fence fixtures to the support post at its upper and lower ends. However, although this might solve the problem of a kennel which can be shipped broken down in its component parts, once the kennel is erected, the same problem that exists with the prior art kennels arises, namely that there will be at least two support posts present where each fence panel meets the other.
Thus, the need exists for an improved compact animal kennel which is easy to transport to the point of sale, can be stored efficiently at the point of sale, and can be easily transported to its end use location, and thereafter simply and quickly assembled with a minimal number of parts in order to reduce the cost of the kennel, as well as to simplify the construction of the kennel.
The present invention also provides both an apparatus and a method for an improved, compact fence enclosure, or kennel, which can be easily transported and stored, is simple in construction, but yet can be easily and quickly assembled or disassembled for use at a second location. This is accomplished in the present invention by providing a compact fenced enclosure having a frame, the frame including a plurality of generally upright support posts, each post having a first and a second end, and a plurality of top and bottom rails extending in a generally horizontal direction between each of the support posts, each top and bottom rail having a first end and a second end. The first end of each top and bottom rail is fastened to the second end of each adjacent top and bottom rail in overlapping fashion on the exterior periphery of each support post at its first, or top end, as well as at its second, or bottom, end, respectively. Thus, as constructed, the posts and rails form an enclosure about the space in which an animal, or a number of animals, is to be confined. The frame also has a gate assembly supported on the frame for permitting passage into and out of the enclosed space. Lastly, chain link fencing is attached to the frame, thus enclosing the space defined by the enclosure.
Each top and bottom rail, has an upright arcuate section formed at its first and second ends. The arcuate sections are placed in an overlapping relationship and fastened to each other as well as to the first and second end of each support post. Each arcuate section on the ends of each rail is sized and shaped to fit in an overlapping relationship on the arcuate section at the end of any other rail on the exterior periphery of any support post. An opening is provided in each arcuate section and passes therethrough, as well as a matching opening defined in both the first and second end of each support post, so that when the arcuate sections of each rail are placed in an overlapping relationship on the periphery of each support post, the openings in the arcuate section and the openings in the support posts are placed in registry with each other so that only a single fastener need be passed through each opening to secure the top and bottom rails, respectively, to each support post.
Thus, this invention also provides an improved method of assembling a compact kennel by providing an apparatus which can be assembled by fastening the first end of each bottom rail to the second end of each adjacent bottom rail with a single fastener on the second end of each support post, fastening the first end of each top rail to the second end of each adjacent top rail with a single fastener on the first end of each support post, mounting a gate assembly to the frame, then attaching chain link fencing to the frame and gate assembly to fully enclose the sides of the space defined by the kennel. Constructed in this fashion, the kennel of the instant invention is quickly and easily erected on site using a minimal number of parts to not only reduce the costs of manufacturing each kennel, but to also simplify the assembly of each kennel at the site of its intended use.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved compact kennel which requires a minimal amount of space for shipment and storage, and which is easy and simple to assemble.
Another object of this invention to provide a compact kennel which has a minimal number of parts to both reduce the cost of manufacturing each kennel, and to thus simplify the assembly of each kennel.
It is another object of this invention to provide a compact kennel which can be easily manufactured, packaged and shipped for both storage and transport thus minimizing shipment and storage costs for each kennel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved compact kennel which is simple in design and inexpensive to construct, is durable and ragged in structure, and can be easily assembled for use.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improve kennel which, when assembled, is rigid in structure so that it will safely and securely enclose an animal within the kennel.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the specification when taken into conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.